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Stimulus, Saudi Arabia, Golden Globes: Your Friday Evening Briefing

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Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
(Want to get this newsletter in your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.1. Democrats are scrambling to salvage a minimum wage proposal ahead of a House vote on President Biden’s stimulus plan. A day after a key Senate official ruled that a provision to increase the federal minimum wage would need to be removed from the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, Democrats were exploring how to codify their push to gradually raise the wage to $15 by 2025 without violating Senate rules. Two new provisions under consideration: penalizing corporations that don’t pay workers at least a $15 minimum wage, and imposing tax penalties on companies if any workers earn less than a certain amount. A vote on the relief bill is expected late tonight. Unemployment benefits will begin to lapse in mid-March. Personal income was up a remarkable 10 percent in January, but the increase was almost entirely attributable to $600 government relief checks and unemployment insurance payments. That was the biggest jump in personal income since April, which was lifted by nearly $3 trillion in government payments.2. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia approved the 2018 assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a newly released U.S. intelligence report said. Much of the evidence the C.I.A. used to draw its conclusion remains classified. But the report, made public by the Biden administration on Friday, details who carried out the killing and dismemberment, what Prince Mohammed knew about the operation, and how the C.I.A. concluded that he ordered it and bears responsibility for Mr. Khashoggi’s death. While the conclusion was already widely known because of leaks last year, the document amounts to a powerful diplomatic rebuke of Prince Mohammed, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. But President Biden stopped short of penalizing the crown prince, fearing a breach with a crucial ally, officials said.3. Is the end of the pandemic in sight? Scientists are optimistic, but fear one last surge of the coronavirus if Americans relax too soon. Many researchers expect a rise in infections as new variants spread. This time, however, the surge could be blunted by vaccines, and, hopefully, widespread caution. But a warning from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that a return to normalcy may not be near. Rochelle Walensky warned impatient governors against relaxing pandemic control measures, saying that a recent steep drop in U.S. virus cases and deaths “may be stalling” and “potentially leveling off at still a very high number.” In vaccine news, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was greenlit by F.D.A. advisers. Formal authorization could come as early as Saturday, followed by distribution within days.

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